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Thursday, April 7, 2011

Fictional Flights of Fancy Made Fantastic

All writers are world builders in some form, but fantasy and science fiction writers are world builders extraordinaire. They have to conjure the fantastic out of nothing, make the unbelievable believable. How do they do that?

They base their worlds on our own and tweak. They can tweak a lot or a little. They offer enough familiar elements so the readers can imagine the worlds for themselves. The writer needs to offer enough detail to make the worlds believable, intriguing, inviting, scary, or all of the above.

Not everything has to be explained, but everything does have to follow certain rules – such as the rule of consequence. If the created world breaks a rule then the writer has to justify it somehow to make it believable.

What are some worlds you like to visit? What is it about make-believe worlds you like best?

Note: I could write a book on worldbuilding alone, but I’m keeping these posts short for the A-Z Challenge. To learn more about the challenge click the image on my sidebar.

I have to agree with Bish. I have always loved the wizard of Oz, this was my first touch with the delights of a world full of imagination and fantasy. If I could visit another place it would be Willie Wonkas Chocolate factory. I guess I am just a big kid at heart.

Of course I want to visit the world of Hogwarts. I still think Rowling wins hands down of any (recent) fantasy author when it comes to world building. What makes me believe is details like food and music that are in our regular world. Also, your blog title is so fun :)

I've always struggled with enjoying sci-fi or fantasy and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that the stories don't take place in this world. For the most part, I like my stories with great twists but with strong doses of reality. Sci-fi and fantasy just don't do it for me. Especially if the author uses aliens to explain why everything is going crazy in the story.

But I must say that world building is so hard and cheers to anyone who can create a good one!

I like make believe worlds because I can distance myself from real life and the real world and just immerse myself and let my imagination run free. My favorite fantasy world is definitely Hogwarts - it's one I never get tired of and the one that I find myself wishing most often was real.

Hee hee, I could say that Oz is my favourite too, but I'm not talking fantasy here. I so admire world builders but I'm still preferring books set in the real world. I'm just boring, I know, but you can certainly insert fantasy into the real-world mix.

Tolkein's of course - for me I have been reading his books since way back - early 60s maybe - and more recently Prachettts - been reading all your A-Z post today - good job as they say in the US -It's taking a while to get around these list of bloggers - have found some great ones on the way - such fun

There have been so many wonderful worlds created! Too many to choose from. But for me, I love to examine the differences between the make believe world and our own, and how characters interact with it. Makes me wonder what it would REALLY be like.

There's something truly amazing about a fantasy/sci-fi world done well :) But your right, there do need to be "rules" so readers can get their heads around things. I think that's partly why I read my favorite fantasy books over and over again, because there's always something new to discover, and each time I cement the world a little more firmly in my head.

I write mysteries set in modern day earth. However, it's a different world than the earth I live: the person murdered is not really alive, the detective is not really there. This takes me out of my depressing world just for awhile.

I think that's the neatest thing about fantasy/science fiction writers is the world building. Of course, I'd love to visit Hogwarts (a world very similar to our own). Middle Earth would be interesting as long as I'm visiting elves or hobbits. I also like visiting the fantasy world in the first novel I wrote. It's pretty nifty. *grins*

I think you are right that every writer creates their own world no matter what genre they write in. I'd love to hop into the pages of the Boxcar Children and live in their world. I love how they find discarded things and make them useable....

Every writer creates a world. They may not all be futuristic but they are all created.Memoirs are recreated. Fiction no matter where yo place it is created.Taking people somewhere they aren't is the best part of make-believe.

That whole world building aspect is why I have a healthy respect for those who write fantasy. It ain't easy creating a world, remembering all the rules for that society and then writing all of that stuff into a cohesive whole so that the reader doesn't get muddled.

Thoughts of how we describe Heaven would be nice. My 5 year old grand daughter said the other day she wanted to die when she was just all grown up not when she is old. Why I asked? Her answer...why would she want to be old in heaven with all the fun stuff there will be to do there.

I just love the magic of it all! The possible impossibilities! Harry Potter's world is one I'd love to visit - post Voldy, of course. I'd love to visit Tolkien's Rivendell. And if I could snag a ride on the U.S.S. Enterprise? The holo-deck would be MINE! :)

Well, one of the worlds I love is that of The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor. The cities, the borders, the people--they're all so amazing. But almost any story world has something in it that would be amazing to actually experience.

There are too many fantastic worlds out there to pick just a few. But as for what makes make-believe worlds great, it's that they give you way to escape reality for a short while, and for much cheaper than a trip to somewhere like Thailand or the moon.

I'm reading loving Sheri S. Tepper's SF novel 'Grass.' I love the way she portrays the worlds and the societies that inhabit them through different characters' povs. It's all so seamless. Very inspirational. Will I ever be that good?

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Welcome to Lynda R Young's blog. The content includes writing tips and some random meanderings. I'm an Aussie and proud of it. All the photos you see on my blog were taken by me unless otherwise stated.